Make the Best of What's Left
by Indigo Hunter
Summary: Two years after the war, everything is okay. Or, Lea and Isa strive to live normal lives with the help of each other and those around them.


**Make the Best of What's Left**

 _Two years after the war, everything is okay._

 _Or, Lea and Isa strive to live normal lives with the help of each other and those around them._

The clap of thunder startled him awake.

Lea quickly observed his surroundings, scanning the perimeter of his room and glancing out into the hallway beyond it. He focused, trying to calm his frantic breathing. Nothing was out of place; there was no scent of darkness in the air. With one last look around and no odd sounds to be heard, the redhead un-summoned his Keyblade and sighed. His palm bled slightly from the iron grip he had on it.

He had been mercifully startled from a rather nasty nightmare from the rainless thunderstorm, so in a way Lea was thankful for it. Still, the feelings of dread and the general negativity caused by the experience of the bad dream left him very on edge and awake.

When he felt like this, so coiled up and flustered, Lea resorted to keeping his mind occupied with something. Surging to his feet, he staggered into the kitchen area and debated on what midnight snack to make himself. This was one of his go-to distractions, something to busy himself with in anxious moments such as these.

The redhead decided quickly on ice cream, but as he let out a loud yawn and began to open the freezer he heard a noise. There was someone outside. Lea became still, summoning his Keyblade as quietly as he could and tiptoed to the door.

Looking out the small peephole immediately caused him to relax in the sense that the house wasn't being broken into, but brought on a whole new form of tension. He whipped the wooden door open, staring intently at the figure before him, who swiftly turned toward Lea's direction.

"Thought you were done with that crap," Lea said softly, crossing his slender arms.

The other man bore an expression of panic and stress—comparative to a skittish cat that was startled—but it was obvious he was trying to suppress whatever negative feelings were running through his mind. To divert attention from his obviously tense posture, he flashed a small, defeated smile and turned his head away from the redhead. "Thunderstorm," he said quietly as he took another long drag from the cigarette in his hand.

Lea shook his head, "That shit's not good for you, Is'. Put it out before you destroy your lungs."

The blue-haired man felt no choice but to comply, promising that he would quit the filthy habit months ago. As he stubbed it out and wiped some ash off of his black tank top, he spotted Lea's hand, which was dripping blood onto the welcome mat. "'That shit's not good for you, Lea'," he mirrored, gesturing to the injured palm.

Lea looks down at the blood on the mat, scolding himself for completely forgetting the injury. "Yeah, I know it's a problem but—"

Isa quickly waved him off, "I know you summon it in your sleep. Still, you really should wear gloves before you go to bed like Riku suggested."

"I'll do it if you do something for me in return," Lea said with a small smirk and put out his uninjured hand.

The other man already knew where this was going, chuckling softly at the Lea's expression. Isa fished into his dark blue pajama pants and pulled out the half-empty pack of menthols. Lea grabbed them in a flash and used his retained power over fire to incinerate them, ignoring the disgusting odor of tobacco and tar as they burned up.

Isa rubbed one of his muscled arms with the opposing hand, "There, now we'll be even."

"Damn str—" Lea was promptly interrupted by a loud clap of thunder accompanied by a flash of lightning. It was the loudest and most abrupt one so far. His heart skipped a beat, face becoming stern. No, not because he was afraid of loud noises like this, but because somebody else was. He heard Isa inhale sharply, breathing becoming shallow. The redhead looked over to his best friend and observed the wide, glazed over look in his green eyes. Isa was seated on the floor now.

"Isa," he said gently. No sudden movements, a calm voice, and a steady tone. Those were the things he was told to do when this happened. Lea repeated his name a few times, but Isa didn't respond.

The shrinks called them flashbacks.

Lea cursed inwardly before he kneeled in front of his friend, "Hey, Isa. We're gonna get up now. I'm gonna take you somewhere safe." His voice was as soft as he could manage. He managed to drag him up to a standing position and immediately began directing him toward the door.

"We're gonna go sit on the couch, 'kay? You'll be fine, Isa. I promise." Lea opened the door, guiding the other man inside and sitting him down on the couch.

Isa rarely got like this nowadays. When he first came back from his possession, the trauma he suffered was severe enough to stick in his psyche like a leech. He would experience flashbacks at least three times a day and his depression and anxiety were very high. Two years later, Isa was doing a lot better, but the damage was still prevalent. Flashbacks and nightmares plagued him about twice a week and he was far from healed, despite the hard work on part of Isa and those close to him. At the very least, he was leaps and bounds above where he started.

Things, like loud noises and certain words or phrases, served as triggers that sent Isa back to his painful past. Some had been overcome, but others were hardwired into the young man's brain.

It took a few minutes, Lea remaining patient throughout the episode. Isa was slouched over, head ducked in embarrassment. Lea simply put an arm around him companionably, helping his best friend get through this the best way he could.

He heard Isa clear his throat and waited patiently for him to talk.

"That was rough," he said quietly.

Lea smiled sadly. "Feeling any better now? We can talk about it if you want," he trailed off.

Isa lifted his head up, but continued to avoid eye contact with his best friend. His green eyes were shut tight, face in a small grimace. The young man would do anything to suppress tears. He was quiet for a considerably long amount of time. Years earlier, Lea would have interjected by now, chatterbox that he is. But time had changed him; these days he was a much more patient and considerate person.

"It sounded just like when I shot that dark beam and hit the wall right next to you. It was inches from your face." Isa crossed his arms then, his gaze haunted and downturned.

Lea shook his head, "Don't use 'I'. You know as much as me that it wasn't you."

"I've accepted that it wasn't really me, so don't worry about that." He ducked his head a little more. "It doesn't make me feel any less guilty about all that happened. It was still my body and I remember _everything_." The last word became a bitter whisper as Isa's voice broke a little. He shook, a few tears tearing down his face and causing his green eyes to redden. His attempts to hold the tears back were turning out to fail quite miserably.

Isa wasn't one to appreciate pity, so Lea did what was best for person like him: show empathy and understanding. "We're all guilty of some pretty shitty stuff, and I'm not gonna try to tell you to feel a certain way. I wasn't any better. Hell, your goddamn pacifistic cousin did some awful crap." The redhead clapped the other man's broad shoulder softly, holding his hand there comfortingly.

At this, Isa seemed to calm down a little bit. His eyes looked a bit less clouded. "Ienzo told me some of the things he was part of when he was Zexion. I'll admit he is the last person I imagined doing things like that."

"Bingo! That's what I was looking for," Lea said with a grin. "Just like you're the last person I'd expect to do the things that Saïx did."

He locked gazes with Lea, green on green. Isa offered his friend an appreciative smile, a weight off his conscience. "You win this one. For now, at least."

Lea was about to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. He and Isa turned their gazes upwards.

"Man, that thunder is really loud," Roxas groaned, rubbing his face with one of his hands. Xion stood near him, suppressing a yawn and trying to smooth out her messy bedhead.

"Is everything okay out here? I heard talking," she asked concernedly.

Lea and Isa looked at each other, the former offering a friendly pat on the latter's back before nodding. "All good, right Is'?"

"Absolutely." He turned his gaze to solely Xion. "You should be getting back to bed though, doll. I didn't promise you a trip to the planetarium for nothing." Isa flashed her a genuine smile.

The black-haired girl giggled. "So, tell me Lea: is 'doll' reserved for me or does Isa use it for all the ladies? Never thought it was in his character to use pet names."

Lea put his hands behind his head, a large smirk plastered on his face. "Only the ones he tolerates the presence of." Isa confirmed it with a nod and a chuckle.

"As long as you don't call me that, we'll be fine," Roxas muttered.

"Well," Isa began, "if you keep acting more like a lady than our dear Xion, then that may change very soon."

Lea and Xion laughed at this, Roxas sticking his tongue out but following it up with a half-smirk.

The conversation continued, companionable and familiar. The kids took the edge off, helped balance Isa and Lea out. They made a perfect addition to their little dysfunctional family.

There would be many more nightmares and many more hurdles to tackle, but as long as they had each other, no challenge would prove impossible.

 _Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters belong to Square Enix and Disney. This is purely for fun and I seek no monetary gain from this story._


End file.
